MIAMI — (Mealey’s) The Third District Florida Court of Appeal affirmed $25 million in punitive damages to the widow of a smoker Sept. 4, saying the award, which was in addition to $16 million in compensatory damages, was not unconstitutionally excessive ( Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Dorothy...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — (Mealey’s) A Florida federal jury awarded $5 million in compensatory damages May 15 to a woman who said three companies’ cigarettes caused chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but the jury assigned 50 percent of the fault to the plaintiff ( Pauline Burkhart, et...

PENSACOLA, Fla. — (Mealey’s) A Florida state court jury on July 18 ordered R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. to pay more than $23.6 billion in punitive damages to the family of a man who alleged that his death from lung cancer was caused by smoking ( Cynthia Robinson, et al. v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco...

BRONSON, Fla. — (Mealey’s) The daughter of a smoker who died of lung cancer was awarded $450,000 in punitive damages Nov. 12 by a jury in Florida’s Eighth Judicial Circuit Court in a trial limited to the redetermination of damages following the striking of an earlier award of almost...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — (Mealey’s) A state court jury awarded $25 million in punitive damages April 21 to a man who alleged that his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was caused by his 40 years of smoking cigarettes manufactured by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. ( Thomas Ryan v. R.J...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — (Mealey’s) A Florida state court jury on July 17 awarded $9 million in punitive damages — $3 million each against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Philip Morris USA Inc. and Lorillard Tobacco Co. — to the widower of a woman who died of lung cancer after years...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — (Mealey’s) A Florida state court jury on Aug. 3 awarded $3.2 million in punitive damages to a woman who alleged that her years of smoking caused her to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that resulted in two lung transplants ( Elaine Jordan v. Philip...